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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. rock — a stone
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. rock — music
  14. mine — for digging
  15. cold — not warm
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. scale — in music
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. scale — size or range
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. foot — a measure

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com